Work Experience

SOEST Maile Mentoring Bridge Program Manager (September 2019-Present)

Past Maile mentees at graduation.

Housed within the School of Ocean Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), the SOEST Maile Mentoring Bridge fulfills a broad desire to inspire Native Hawaiians, kamaʻāina, and individuals of other underrepresented ethnicities into ocean, earth, and environmental science professions. Like the many varieties of Maile, this program creates unique mentoring relationships that offer support, encouragement, and the sharing of knowledge. The program weaves individual student goals with their personal and cultural experiences.

Project Olonā Program Manager (February 2019-September 2019)

The purpose of the Project Olonā Program is to perpetuate cultural knowledge and values, support an interest in scientific endeavor, and increase long-term student success rates in academic and career pathways. The project was a multidisciplinary, collaborative effort of students at Kapiʻolani Community College (KCC), the Nursing Pathway program at Windward Community College (WCC), and John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), to build on and expand the levels of research for KCC students who have conducted research on traditional medicinal plants.

Left image: Project Olonā student preparing to out-plant popolo.Right image: Patch of olena and mamaki and out-planting site

To learn more about some of the research and the project olonā summer bridge program, click here.

The ʻIke Wai Summer Bridge is a joint venture with the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM), Kapiolani Community College (KCC), School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), and Hawaiʻi EPSCoR. The Program is designed to train KCC and UHM undergraduate students in both field and laboratory skills with an emphasis on bridging western science and politics with Hawaiian culture in relation to Hawaii's freshwater.

2019 ʻIke Wai Summer Bridge students and mentors at the Waiheʻe Water Tunnel in Oahu, Hawaii

Microbiology Laboratory Technician (September 2017-May 2019)

The Lab Hui O Frank under Dr. Kiana Frank focuses on the complex role microorganisms play in biogeochemical cycling. While part of this hui, I worked as their laboratory technician and was also part of the ʻIke Wai Kona field sampling team. During my employment, I looked at the microbial communities in groundwater aquifers in Hawaii and focused a lot of my time on the unique biota in Kona's anchialine pools.

A view of the Koʻolau Range from a hale kiaʻi at the Heʻeia Fishpond in Kaneohe, HI

ARMS Laboratory Technician (September 2015-September 2017)

ARMS stands for Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structure. The ARMS project was developed by NOAA's Coral Reef Ecosystem Program in partnership with the Census of Marine Life, Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, abundance, and community structure of the cryptofauna community on a global scale.

As a C-MORE Scholar, I worked along side Kapiolani Community College's Biology Instructor, Mackenzie Manning to understand the genetic connectivity of the uniquely suited urchin, Colobocentrotus atratus, in four islands across the main Hawaiian island chain.

Click here to learn more about C-MOREClick on the file below to view a poster explaining my sea urchin research

As a student researcher, I was given the task to research everything about the Ahupua'a (land division) of which KCC is situated in. While doing this research I came across a mo'olelo (story) about a battle between a mystic being and a demi-god. The mo'olelo spoke of a spring that runs red (with blood), so I turned this into a scientific research project.

​Click here to learn more about KCC's STEM programsClick on the file below to view a poster explaining my red spring research